It's been a little over a week since the last time I posted. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is my last week here in Port Colborne! My parents are coming up this Friday and we'll spend a day in Niagara and then head back home with all my stuff. It doesn't seem real to me that I'm leaving; it still seems like next Monday I'll get up and go back to work as usual.
That being said, I'm excited that instead of going to work next Monday I'll get to see Paul =P
Paul is doing well, he's trying to lay low as much as his sanity will let him but he's been able to get back to work so that he can continue paying off his car. Praise the Lord for remote jobs! Health Insurance is still a little iffy last I heard, so please be praying that it will get sorted out so he can get another doctor's appointment.
I've been very encouraged the past week. Two of my courses in school last year focused on usability and how to determine if what you're building is actually worth using. So I've been putting some of that knowledge to work and developed a usability test for people to try out before we make the site go live. If you want something productive to do, need a break from doing other productive things, or just love me enough to spend 10-20 minutes of your time poking around a website, feel free to fill out this survey monkey :)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BHYRLXJ
Anyway, the encouraging thing about this whole usability testing business is that it looks like the website we've built is usable! Granted, we can't please everybody, but it looks like the majority of people are able to navigate and get the information they need while it looking pretty at the same time :) (Which is my main goal in life, make functional things that happen to be pretty).
Today is Tuesday which means we had a devotional this morning. Raymond, our associate director, encouraged us today to pray for something big. Furthermore, he decided that instead of praying in our own little worlds, we should lay hands on EVERYONE in the room present and pray for something big. What an experience. It'll be a challenge to continue praying like I do here, but I want to embrace it. So, go pray for something big!
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
The Weekend
Time is so weird. This morning I just realized that this coming weekend is my last free weekend in Port Colborne. Next weekend my parents come up and bring me home. What???
But what I want to talk about is last weekend. On Friday, Raymond our Associate Director asked the team if anyone would be available to hand out literature during a conference that was happening in Hamilton, about an hour away. Most of the team was already tied up with other commitments, but CJ, Stephanie and I were free, so we volunteered.
This conference is hard to explain, but I'll try. It was a conference specifically for Pentecostal, North American, Malialam speaking Christians. This is a language spoken in India. George Verwer, the founder of OM, was set to be one of their speakers. George sent a ton of books (I think I was told 1 million) to be sold/given out to these people. In all of the even planning somehow it got missed who would actually be manning the book selling tables.
It was really very interesting, I got to interact with a lot of Indian people and learn a little bit more about the world. It was almost like being a vendor in an Indian market! I also learned more about OM and George Verwer's story when he spoke during one of the sessions. CJ told me that this was a "true OM experience". "No one really knows what's going on, we're just kind of winging it, and somehow, God will pull this all together". It's true, He did. We got lots of books handed out and sold. I'm learning how important it is when you're a missionary to be flexible and willing to do whatever is necessary to further God's kingdom. We sold books from Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 pm and from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. It was a very busy weekend! I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds of muscle from all the boxes I carried aht were full of boks ;)
I also got to eat at Swiss Chalet, a Canadian family restaurant and have one of Canada's favourite foods: poutin. This is fries smothered in gravy and cheese. If it sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen, that's because it is.
Paul is doing quite well; at this point it's just making sure that he doesn't catch any secondary infections. He's been trying to be good and to be patient until we have an all clear from a blood test saying his immune system is back to normal. His dad just switched jobs and right now their healthcare is up in the air, so if you all could be praying that it would get resolved quickly so he can have another doctor appointment that would be awesome.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed with how much work is left when I leave so soon! I know it will all get finished, but just pray for me that I will work diligently and not waste time worrying about it. I can't believe this summer is coming to a close soon! Thanks :)
Oh, and if you want an email newsletter or printed newsletter just let me know!
But what I want to talk about is last weekend. On Friday, Raymond our Associate Director asked the team if anyone would be available to hand out literature during a conference that was happening in Hamilton, about an hour away. Most of the team was already tied up with other commitments, but CJ, Stephanie and I were free, so we volunteered.
This conference is hard to explain, but I'll try. It was a conference specifically for Pentecostal, North American, Malialam speaking Christians. This is a language spoken in India. George Verwer, the founder of OM, was set to be one of their speakers. George sent a ton of books (I think I was told 1 million) to be sold/given out to these people. In all of the even planning somehow it got missed who would actually be manning the book selling tables.
It was really very interesting, I got to interact with a lot of Indian people and learn a little bit more about the world. It was almost like being a vendor in an Indian market! I also learned more about OM and George Verwer's story when he spoke during one of the sessions. CJ told me that this was a "true OM experience". "No one really knows what's going on, we're just kind of winging it, and somehow, God will pull this all together". It's true, He did. We got lots of books handed out and sold. I'm learning how important it is when you're a missionary to be flexible and willing to do whatever is necessary to further God's kingdom. We sold books from Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 pm and from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. on Sunday. It was a very busy weekend! I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds of muscle from all the boxes I carried aht were full of boks ;)
I also got to eat at Swiss Chalet, a Canadian family restaurant and have one of Canada's favourite foods: poutin. This is fries smothered in gravy and cheese. If it sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen, that's because it is.
Paul is doing quite well; at this point it's just making sure that he doesn't catch any secondary infections. He's been trying to be good and to be patient until we have an all clear from a blood test saying his immune system is back to normal. His dad just switched jobs and right now their healthcare is up in the air, so if you all could be praying that it would get resolved quickly so he can have another doctor appointment that would be awesome.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed with how much work is left when I leave so soon! I know it will all get finished, but just pray for me that I will work diligently and not waste time worrying about it. I can't believe this summer is coming to a close soon! Thanks :)
Oh, and if you want an email newsletter or printed newsletter just let me know!
Friday, 6 July 2012
Miracles & Another Week
Paul has been feeling so much better. Last Saturday I prayed hard that his jaw would be released so that he could eat again. Sunday morning we talked and it was about the same -- I felt so discouraged. However, by dinnertime he could almost open his mouth completely, swelling had gone down, and the pain in his ears had subsided substantially. All I can is Praise the Lord!!!! I know healing that fast could have only come from the Lord. Please continue praying for him -- everything is not totally gone. He has energy and is getting some cabin-fever but needs to continue staying home as he is still contagious and can catch secondary infections easily. It is so hard to stay home when that's all you've been doing for almost 3 weeks and you're "feeling healthy"! Please pray that he will have the wisdom to discern what he should and should not do.
I've gotten back into soccer which has been a lot of fun. We played a very intense game this Wednesday--it was so hot and humid! Normally we play for 2 hours with > 20 people, but with only 8 people and double the running we barely lasted an hour. It's been good for me to start playing again; I've watched way too much Netflix recently ;) I was also blessed to hang out with my friends CJ, Stephanie and their friend Jolene last weekend. We went to Canada's Wonderland which is similar to Six Flags. I was very impressed by this theme park! We had a lot of fun riding roller coasters and I was glad to have some company. I also celebrated Canada Day Sunday night by watching them shoot off fireworks over the canal.
Aside from this weekend, it's been a pretty quiet week, both at home and in the office. My roommate left to counsel at a camp, butI have a family staying with me now so that has added a little bit of excitement to my life. Funny enough, their oldest daughter just graduated from Taylor, their second oldest daughter is currently there now as a Junior, and their youngest is considering going there! It's always so fun to find these connections.
I'm not terribly good at working alone and staying motivated. With the office being so quiet, I find myself being very distracted. It's hard at this point because I can confidently say at this point that everything functionality related is done. All that's left is sorting out what to do with applications, online giving, and content. All of those things I can't do on my own, so it's hard to know what to work on. Pray that I will stay focused and productive. Pray that the Lord will give me tasks to do until I'm officially finished working at the office July 20th.
We have also had more sickness and illness descend upon our office. Our office manager - Harold, is out with an inner ear problem that causes him to become dizzy and nauseous, his wife said this is the worst episode he has ever had and there is no set time for when he will get better. He does quite a bit for us and it's hard having him out.
Maybe one day I'll learn to be concise. Thanks for sticking with me anyway :)
I've gotten back into soccer which has been a lot of fun. We played a very intense game this Wednesday--it was so hot and humid! Normally we play for 2 hours with > 20 people, but with only 8 people and double the running we barely lasted an hour. It's been good for me to start playing again; I've watched way too much Netflix recently ;) I was also blessed to hang out with my friends CJ, Stephanie and their friend Jolene last weekend. We went to Canada's Wonderland which is similar to Six Flags. I was very impressed by this theme park! We had a lot of fun riding roller coasters and I was glad to have some company. I also celebrated Canada Day Sunday night by watching them shoot off fireworks over the canal.
Aside from this weekend, it's been a pretty quiet week, both at home and in the office. My roommate left to counsel at a camp, butI have a family staying with me now so that has added a little bit of excitement to my life. Funny enough, their oldest daughter just graduated from Taylor, their second oldest daughter is currently there now as a Junior, and their youngest is considering going there! It's always so fun to find these connections.
I'm not terribly good at working alone and staying motivated. With the office being so quiet, I find myself being very distracted. It's hard at this point because I can confidently say at this point that everything functionality related is done. All that's left is sorting out what to do with applications, online giving, and content. All of those things I can't do on my own, so it's hard to know what to work on. Pray that I will stay focused and productive. Pray that the Lord will give me tasks to do until I'm officially finished working at the office July 20th.
We have also had more sickness and illness descend upon our office. Our office manager - Harold, is out with an inner ear problem that causes him to become dizzy and nauseous, his wife said this is the worst episode he has ever had and there is no set time for when he will get better. He does quite a bit for us and it's hard having him out.
Maybe one day I'll learn to be concise. Thanks for sticking with me anyway :)
Saturday, 30 June 2012
Real Life
Since Paul left, I feel like I've been avoiding blogging. (Well, I don't feel like I have, I have been avoiding it)
Why? I know why. Because I like being transparent and putting what I'm really thinking out there. But being real and honest seems kind of wrong as a missionary sometimes. We think, "Aren't we supposed to be praising God all the time and talking about how good He has made our lives? What would my supporters think if I made a post or comment about how crummy things were? That their money was being wasted? " And then I just feel worse and very alone.
Then I remember, "Ah, but they are my supporters! Thus, they should especially support me when I feel crummy! This is part of the adventure!"
And indeed it is. One of our friends here, CJ, said to me, "Well. you're a real missionary now. All missionaries struggle with finances, visas, or illness. Because you're covered financially and don't need visas, clearly one of you had to get ill." He was mostly joking, but it's also very true. While we've been here we've prayed for many people who are struggling with finances, visas, or being ill. Unfortunately, both of us have been sick here while we were here but that's beside the point. The point is, being a missionary is not easy and real life happens to us too (sometimes I think it's on a grander scale, but I'm probably just being dramatic). So, while I'm going to try hard not to complain too much and focus on the good, I'm just not in a terribly chipper mood all the time now.
Strangely enough, I have found one more "good" thing about this whole mono business and this "good' thing is also going to sound strange. Paul and I don't usually find much to disagree on and we had never had a full on argument, but the other night we had a huge argument over something. In the end the right decision was made and, we resolved it, but there was a lot of frustration and stress getting there. In a weird way, I think that was good for us. It sucked, but I think we'd be fools to think that arguments like this will never happen again when we get married. I tend to default to ignoring the person when I'm in a long distance argument and I love that he doesn't let me do that. I know arguments will happen, but this has made me more confident that we can get through them and more importantly want to because we want to make this work.
Not only that but God is really trying to stretch my trust in Him. Before Paul left I could check in on him personally every few hours, make sure he takes his meds and try to make him eat healthy. But now I'm in Canada and he's far away and I have to trust God that He's got this. But I'm having a hard time trusting God that Paul being in the States and away from me is what's best. Don't get me wrong, I'm used to being long distance and the "I miss him" pain. That feels more normal than getting to see him every day. But this separation seems magnified with him being so ill. All day I think, "I wish I were home" or "I wish Paul were here with me." But, I'm trying to truck along, do my best to do what I can and pray hard. It's hard when I feel so helpless.
Paul update: He's not doing any better and seems to be getting worse by the day. Nothing has really improved other than the ibuprofen is much better at dealing with the pain than Tylenol. However, yesterday he started having jaw pain and as of today can't open his mouth more than the width of his finger. Again, this makes eating and keeping hydrated difficult. If he doesn't get proper nutrients in, then his body can't fight this virus and whatever else is going on with him, then he takes longer to recover. He goes to the doctor on Monday. My prayer is that he will be fully healed by the time I get home, in roughly 23 days. If that's the case then he most likely will be able to attend school this semester. If he ends up staying ill long enough that he can't go to school this semester then we will probably be postponing our marriage as well. (Not ideal).
Work update: I've managed to finish the Pray page, and am rethinking the Give page. Added some nice usability touches to it and will be doing a little bit of user testing. Documentation and training will start next week as I will be heading home two weeks earlier than planned. (Don't worry, I'll keep working from home).
Well, for not wanting to blog, that was an awfully long blog post =P Thanks for sticking with us.
Why? I know why. Because I like being transparent and putting what I'm really thinking out there. But being real and honest seems kind of wrong as a missionary sometimes. We think, "Aren't we supposed to be praising God all the time and talking about how good He has made our lives? What would my supporters think if I made a post or comment about how crummy things were? That their money was being wasted? " And then I just feel worse and very alone.
Then I remember, "Ah, but they are my supporters! Thus, they should especially support me when I feel crummy! This is part of the adventure!"
And indeed it is. One of our friends here, CJ, said to me, "Well. you're a real missionary now. All missionaries struggle with finances, visas, or illness. Because you're covered financially and don't need visas, clearly one of you had to get ill." He was mostly joking, but it's also very true. While we've been here we've prayed for many people who are struggling with finances, visas, or being ill. Unfortunately, both of us have been sick here while we were here but that's beside the point. The point is, being a missionary is not easy and real life happens to us too (sometimes I think it's on a grander scale, but I'm probably just being dramatic). So, while I'm going to try hard not to complain too much and focus on the good, I'm just not in a terribly chipper mood all the time now.
Strangely enough, I have found one more "good" thing about this whole mono business and this "good' thing is also going to sound strange. Paul and I don't usually find much to disagree on and we had never had a full on argument, but the other night we had a huge argument over something. In the end the right decision was made and, we resolved it, but there was a lot of frustration and stress getting there. In a weird way, I think that was good for us. It sucked, but I think we'd be fools to think that arguments like this will never happen again when we get married. I tend to default to ignoring the person when I'm in a long distance argument and I love that he doesn't let me do that. I know arguments will happen, but this has made me more confident that we can get through them and more importantly want to because we want to make this work.
Not only that but God is really trying to stretch my trust in Him. Before Paul left I could check in on him personally every few hours, make sure he takes his meds and try to make him eat healthy. But now I'm in Canada and he's far away and I have to trust God that He's got this. But I'm having a hard time trusting God that Paul being in the States and away from me is what's best. Don't get me wrong, I'm used to being long distance and the "I miss him" pain. That feels more normal than getting to see him every day. But this separation seems magnified with him being so ill. All day I think, "I wish I were home" or "I wish Paul were here with me." But, I'm trying to truck along, do my best to do what I can and pray hard. It's hard when I feel so helpless.
Paul update: He's not doing any better and seems to be getting worse by the day. Nothing has really improved other than the ibuprofen is much better at dealing with the pain than Tylenol. However, yesterday he started having jaw pain and as of today can't open his mouth more than the width of his finger. Again, this makes eating and keeping hydrated difficult. If he doesn't get proper nutrients in, then his body can't fight this virus and whatever else is going on with him, then he takes longer to recover. He goes to the doctor on Monday. My prayer is that he will be fully healed by the time I get home, in roughly 23 days. If that's the case then he most likely will be able to attend school this semester. If he ends up staying ill long enough that he can't go to school this semester then we will probably be postponing our marriage as well. (Not ideal).
Work update: I've managed to finish the Pray page, and am rethinking the Give page. Added some nice usability touches to it and will be doing a little bit of user testing. Documentation and training will start next week as I will be heading home two weeks earlier than planned. (Don't worry, I'll keep working from home).
Well, for not wanting to blog, that was an awfully long blog post =P Thanks for sticking with us.
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Alone in Canada
I feel like I should write a blog post. But for once, I don't really have much to say.
Paul is about the same. He went to the doctor at home and they told him to get off the Tylenol and get on ibuprofen. Tylenol is hard on the liver and not as effective. We had been told the opposite by the doctor in Welland. So the good news is that he's having less trouble with his ears and can eat more. Praise the Lord!
There's some good stuff happening on the site too. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get some simple javascript working so that users will have a better experience. I've also nearly completed work on the Give page -- all that's left is putting in content. The Pray page is taking some form, although I'm not happy with it at present. I think more brainstorming is necessary and God will give me what it should look like. Then the last thing is to throw in some Facebook integration. Once that's done, it's on to documentation and training! Yay!
Before all the mono mess happened Paul and I were planning to go to the Toronto Challenge. This is an outreach put on by OM Canada and a local church to reach out to those in the Toronto area, especially Muslims. Unfortunately, I've decided to not go to the challenge for a couple of reasons. One, I'm leaving two weeks earlier than planned, so I need to have more time to do the documentation and training and the outreach is a whole week that I couldn't work. Two, I'm trying to keep my immune system as boosted as possible, and I don't think being around lots of new people, foods, and late nights are helpful.
That's all I've got for you. Oh, and Canada Day is this Sunday! Yay!
Paul is about the same. He went to the doctor at home and they told him to get off the Tylenol and get on ibuprofen. Tylenol is hard on the liver and not as effective. We had been told the opposite by the doctor in Welland. So the good news is that he's having less trouble with his ears and can eat more. Praise the Lord!
There's some good stuff happening on the site too. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get some simple javascript working so that users will have a better experience. I've also nearly completed work on the Give page -- all that's left is putting in content. The Pray page is taking some form, although I'm not happy with it at present. I think more brainstorming is necessary and God will give me what it should look like. Then the last thing is to throw in some Facebook integration. Once that's done, it's on to documentation and training! Yay!
Before all the mono mess happened Paul and I were planning to go to the Toronto Challenge. This is an outreach put on by OM Canada and a local church to reach out to those in the Toronto area, especially Muslims. Unfortunately, I've decided to not go to the challenge for a couple of reasons. One, I'm leaving two weeks earlier than planned, so I need to have more time to do the documentation and training and the outreach is a whole week that I couldn't work. Two, I'm trying to keep my immune system as boosted as possible, and I don't think being around lots of new people, foods, and late nights are helpful.
That's all I've got for you. Oh, and Canada Day is this Sunday! Yay!
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
God is in Control
"This summer isn't turning out to be how you planned it, is it?"
This phrase and other variations of it I've heard many times over the past few days. They're right; this is not how I envisioned this summer going at all.
In some ways though, this is what I asked for. I prayed that God would work through us, help us to build a website and strengthen our relationship both with Him and with each other. To tell you the truth, he's done all those things, just in ways I wouldn't have imagined.
Obviously, there is a website and we've done a lot of work on it. He's worked with us. It's coming along well, even with everything going on. There's one major section to finish and then it's on to documentation and training. This has been much smoother than either of us had anticipated. We had been working really well together which was another thing we were testing out since I'll be starting an internship with EV Technologies this August. (That's the company Paul works for).
As for our relationship with God, I can't speak for Paul, but I know I've had to do a lot of trusting of God in everything that we've been doing. I've had much more time spent with God this summer than I have in a long time. All this illness has just made me lean on him more. I've learned more about prayer, about giving, and about what it really takes to be a missionary through this experience. It's more than spending a week or two "roughing it".
As for our relationship, yes we're apart now, but we know we can handle that. That's normal for us. What we wanted to see was if we really had what it takes to make it for more than 2 weeks. We made it to 4 before he had to leave and we were going strong. I had a friend who once said to me way before I got engaged, "I'm not going to ask you if you love Paul, but do you want to care for him? Do you want to do what's hard, to clean the dishes, pick up after him and actually live a life with him?" I didn't really know what to tell her then because we've never had an opportunity to do "normal" like that before.Well, I got a heavy dose of that this week and I can tell you that I feel more secure in my love for him than I did before he got sick.
I will miss Paul, but I'm glad he will be at home where he can be close to medical care without worrying if we're going to be able to get back across the border. I wish I knew why this happened, but I'm trusting God on this one. He is good and is in control.
Please keep praying for his recovery. I'm coming back home in 3 and a half weeks and I think it would be awesome for him to be mostly recovered by the time I get back. Pray that I will be able to get done what is needed over the next 3 weeks and to make the right decision regarding whether I should go to the Toronto Challenge. I can't thank you all enough for the many prayers that have already been lifted up for us.
This phrase and other variations of it I've heard many times over the past few days. They're right; this is not how I envisioned this summer going at all.
In some ways though, this is what I asked for. I prayed that God would work through us, help us to build a website and strengthen our relationship both with Him and with each other. To tell you the truth, he's done all those things, just in ways I wouldn't have imagined.
Obviously, there is a website and we've done a lot of work on it. He's worked with us. It's coming along well, even with everything going on. There's one major section to finish and then it's on to documentation and training. This has been much smoother than either of us had anticipated. We had been working really well together which was another thing we were testing out since I'll be starting an internship with EV Technologies this August. (That's the company Paul works for).
As for our relationship with God, I can't speak for Paul, but I know I've had to do a lot of trusting of God in everything that we've been doing. I've had much more time spent with God this summer than I have in a long time. All this illness has just made me lean on him more. I've learned more about prayer, about giving, and about what it really takes to be a missionary through this experience. It's more than spending a week or two "roughing it".
As for our relationship, yes we're apart now, but we know we can handle that. That's normal for us. What we wanted to see was if we really had what it takes to make it for more than 2 weeks. We made it to 4 before he had to leave and we were going strong. I had a friend who once said to me way before I got engaged, "I'm not going to ask you if you love Paul, but do you want to care for him? Do you want to do what's hard, to clean the dishes, pick up after him and actually live a life with him?" I didn't really know what to tell her then because we've never had an opportunity to do "normal" like that before.Well, I got a heavy dose of that this week and I can tell you that I feel more secure in my love for him than I did before he got sick.
I will miss Paul, but I'm glad he will be at home where he can be close to medical care without worrying if we're going to be able to get back across the border. I wish I knew why this happened, but I'm trusting God on this one. He is good and is in control.
Please keep praying for his recovery. I'm coming back home in 3 and a half weeks and I think it would be awesome for him to be mostly recovered by the time I get back. Pray that I will be able to get done what is needed over the next 3 weeks and to make the right decision regarding whether I should go to the Toronto Challenge. I can't thank you all enough for the many prayers that have already been lifted up for us.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Illness Update
We've been on a bit of a rollercoaster since Paul started feeling sick on Tuesday. As I said earlier, the doctor at the clinic in Welland suspected Mono but their facilities don't have blood testing. We decided to see how he felt the next day to determine whether we should go to Buffalo for more testing.
I got to his apartment Wednesday morning to make him some breakfast and the first thing he said was, "We are going to Buffalo." So, we got a little bit of eggs into him and headed off. Many thanks and praises to God for Buffalo only being half an hour away from the border. The first hospital we got to, Buffalo General Hospital, were tight lipped about expenses, but I went ahead and saw a doctor about the possibility of me getting tested for Mono. She said that it would be pointless for me because it would probably turn up negative regardless if I had it since it's so soon after Paul having acute symptoms. If I was sick in a few weeks then I would know, if not, then I wasn't infected. So far I'm still feeling fine.
Since that hospital would tell us nothing about expenses (yes, we checked with the billing department), we decided to head to another urgent care facility in West Seneca. They were very gracious and took care of us immediately. About half an hour later we had confirmed Mono. Paul spent the rest of the day sleeping and being an obedient patient for me, dutifully taking his coconut oil, echinacea, and eating healthy. I don't know if it's the lack of energy, but his patience and obedience is making things a lot easier on me.
Today I went to see him for breakfast and he seemed to be doing a little better. I went back at lunchtime and he was well enough to be oogling a car in the parking lot when we walked outside for a few minutes ;) Then, just before I got off work he texts me asking me if he could drive to the store to get pizza. Of course I told him no, but that made me feel very encouraged. He had an appetite, was feeling energetic enough to go somewhere, etc. I told him if he forewent the pizza then he could go to the team picnic for 15-20 minutes and see people. We went to the team picnic for about 15 minutes and he seemed ok there which was good. I brought him back home and had him rest until I came back later with some groceries.
By the time I got back around 9:15 he was not looking so good...his ear has been bothering him all day and I think the pain is increasing. This is common with Mono, because of all the pressure of the lymph nodes. If it continues to stay bad we may have to go back to the doctor to get him some steroids.
It was hard being in the office without him today; I had no one to tell me that what I was doing looked awful =P I'm praying hard that he won't have to go home, but if that's what God wants him to do and if that's what he needs to do then I will have to try and be ok with that. I must admit how frustrated I am that this has happened now, in the middle of what I thought would be an awesome summer together. Paul summed it up very well this evening, "This sucks."
I do praise God that this didn't happen during school year which probably cause him to take longer to finish. We're also in a place where he can get medical help if needed. We're surrounded by people who even after knowing us for just a few weeks and doing everything they can to help us. Truly, we serve a good God.
So to sum up: please pray for Paul that he will be able to get the rest he needs and for the pressure in his lymph nodes to reduce so that his ear doesn't hurt. Ultimately, pray that he be completely healed. Help him to find the good in this experience and to not be discouraged and scared. Pray that I will make the right decisions, be ok with the right decisions, and take the best care I can of him. Thank you so much for following along and reading.
I got to his apartment Wednesday morning to make him some breakfast and the first thing he said was, "We are going to Buffalo." So, we got a little bit of eggs into him and headed off. Many thanks and praises to God for Buffalo only being half an hour away from the border. The first hospital we got to, Buffalo General Hospital, were tight lipped about expenses, but I went ahead and saw a doctor about the possibility of me getting tested for Mono. She said that it would be pointless for me because it would probably turn up negative regardless if I had it since it's so soon after Paul having acute symptoms. If I was sick in a few weeks then I would know, if not, then I wasn't infected. So far I'm still feeling fine.
Since that hospital would tell us nothing about expenses (yes, we checked with the billing department), we decided to head to another urgent care facility in West Seneca. They were very gracious and took care of us immediately. About half an hour later we had confirmed Mono. Paul spent the rest of the day sleeping and being an obedient patient for me, dutifully taking his coconut oil, echinacea, and eating healthy. I don't know if it's the lack of energy, but his patience and obedience is making things a lot easier on me.
Today I went to see him for breakfast and he seemed to be doing a little better. I went back at lunchtime and he was well enough to be oogling a car in the parking lot when we walked outside for a few minutes ;) Then, just before I got off work he texts me asking me if he could drive to the store to get pizza. Of course I told him no, but that made me feel very encouraged. He had an appetite, was feeling energetic enough to go somewhere, etc. I told him if he forewent the pizza then he could go to the team picnic for 15-20 minutes and see people. We went to the team picnic for about 15 minutes and he seemed ok there which was good. I brought him back home and had him rest until I came back later with some groceries.
By the time I got back around 9:15 he was not looking so good...his ear has been bothering him all day and I think the pain is increasing. This is common with Mono, because of all the pressure of the lymph nodes. If it continues to stay bad we may have to go back to the doctor to get him some steroids.
It was hard being in the office without him today; I had no one to tell me that what I was doing looked awful =P I'm praying hard that he won't have to go home, but if that's what God wants him to do and if that's what he needs to do then I will have to try and be ok with that. I must admit how frustrated I am that this has happened now, in the middle of what I thought would be an awesome summer together. Paul summed it up very well this evening, "This sucks."
I do praise God that this didn't happen during school year which probably cause him to take longer to finish. We're also in a place where he can get medical help if needed. We're surrounded by people who even after knowing us for just a few weeks and doing everything they can to help us. Truly, we serve a good God.
So to sum up: please pray for Paul that he will be able to get the rest he needs and for the pressure in his lymph nodes to reduce so that his ear doesn't hurt. Ultimately, pray that he be completely healed. Help him to find the good in this experience and to not be discouraged and scared. Pray that I will make the right decisions, be ok with the right decisions, and take the best care I can of him. Thank you so much for following along and reading.
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